Doctors and other prescribers must check Arizona's controlled substances prescription monitoring database before every opioid or benzodiazepine prescription and refill (with existing exceptions), pharmacists must check before every Schedule II dispensing, and pharmacies face tighter reporting rules.
Official title: controlled substances prescription monitoring program
- September 12, 2026
- July 1, 2027: Reports must include the date a prescription was filled and the date it was sold, in place of the date dispensed
What changes
BeforeBefore prescribing an opioid painkiller or benzodiazepine in Schedule II, III or IV, a prescriber had to check the patient's 12-month report at the start of each new course of treatment and at least every 3 months after, and could get a 1-year waiver for technology problems or other exceptional circumstances.
NowThe prescriber must check the patient's 12-month report before issuing the prescription and before prescribing any later refill of it. The 1-year waiver is removed. Existing exceptions, such as hospice, cancer care and short prescriptions of up to 5 days after a procedure or emergency room visit, still apply.
BeforeBefore dispensing a Schedule II controlled substance, a pharmacist had to check the patient's 12-month report at the start of each new course of treatment.
NowA pharmacist must check the patient's 12-month report before dispensing a Schedule II controlled substance, without the limit to a new course of treatment.
BeforeDispensers reported prescription data once each day, could use paper forms if electronic reporting was not feasible, could ask for a waiver from electronic reporting, and used a national industry reporting guide.
NowReports must be sent electronically within 1 business day after the prescription was sold. If there is nothing to report, the reporter must report zero. The paper-form option and the waiver are removed. Dispensers must use the latest version of this state's data submission guide.
BeforeReports included the date the prescription was dispensed.
NowBeginning July 1, 2027, reports must include the date the prescription was filled and the date it was sold to the patient or the patient's agent.
BeforeA board-appointed task force helped run the database, promoted electronic prescribing and advised on exceptions. It included state and federal agency representatives, criminal prosecutors and a health information organization.
NowA board-appointed compliance workgroup is to identify potential noncompliance with the requirement to use the database. Agency representatives, prosecutors and the health information organization are no longer listed as members.
Who it affects
- Medical practitioners who prescribe opioid painkillers or benzodiazepines
- Pharmacists, pharmacies and their technicians and interns
- Patients who receive controlled substance prescriptions
- Health care insurers and the Arizona health care cost containment system (AHCCCS) and its contractors
- Arizona State Board of Pharmacy and medical licensing boards
What you need to do
Nothing for patients. Prescribers and pharmacists must follow the new database checking and reporting rules.
What the law doesn't answer
- What penalty, if any, applies to a prescriber or pharmacist who does not check the database
- What this state's data submission guide contains or when it will be published
- What the compliance workgroup will do after it identifies potential noncompliance
- What form an attestation from an insurer or AHCCCS must take
- Whether any waiver process replaces the removed 1-year waiver for prescribers
This summary describes the law as enacted. Later laws, court rulings or referendum petitions can change the picture. Check the official text for the current wording.